Our original plan for today was to drive up to Pioneer and visit the Elk Gap railroad tunnel.
We then planned to go on around to Huntsville and ride Royal Blue to see Thirteen Hollow Falls, Flatwoods Falls, and Patricia Falls. The reasoning was that I had to limit the amount of hiking because of my bad left knee. It was bitterly cold and windy. The snow had become covered with a sheet of ice. The day before we went to town, and I slid on black ice in a parking lot. It hit me Saturday morning that I was being foolish. I was believing what I wanted to be true not reality.
Images of the packed snow and ice on railroad tracks flashed into my mind's eye. I knew I was putting myself at high risk of taking an already painful knee to the next level of damage. I took a tenth step... "Continue to take a personal inventory and when you are wrong promptly admit it. "
I was wrong so I admitted it. Kenny laughed and asked me "Well, what else could we do?"
I had a backup plan thankfully. We would head south where they'd had less snow and ice!
Down the road we went toward Madisonville. We'd stop at Bert's Hometown Grill and eat lunch.
Then we'd motor on down to visit McFarland and Turtletown Adit for the first time in Winter.
I wanted to get some photos of the waterfall at Turtletown and some video footage. I also wanted to get photos of an area cabin before it rotted down. I wanted video of Buck Bald. We'd find plenty to do.
McFarland and Testing My Directions
Things I remembered to take:
backpack
rope
hiking poles
camera
Go Pro
batteries
GPS
chainsaw.
What Did Dana Forget?
The MAP!
Kenny suggested we stop at the visitor center in Tellico Plains and buy a map. I had an idea to save us. I looked up my blog while we still had a phone signal.
I screen shot the directions for McFarland. I figured what better way to test them out than apply them to myself? I made double sure they were complete and readable. Turned out great and they worked like a charm. No problems. I have included them at the top of this post and tweaked them a bit. Now there are directions approaching from North and South. No one wants to drive 12 miles to Ducktown and turn around and come back.
I reckoned that despite our past wanderings and gaffs we might be better off today.
What we lack in smarts we make up for in lots of experience. Sure enough we'd have found it without the directions.
We went in a slightly different way than my directions indicated. We went down to the main road near the Farner Post Office and turned there. My directions coming in from the north are written just as we executed them today. The only thing that messed with us a little after all these trips to the area over the decades? Turning onto Duggan Road in the village! The road sign is not visible coming from this direction. Additionally, the road looks very, very narrow like the lane to someone's house.
It is actually just a narrow country road with lots of residences clustered close. The good news is that they have the sign back up for Turtletown Falls trailhead. You can't miss it from Farner Road. I will never forget the first time I hiked to Turtletown Falls. I was with Bill Stowell and Craig DeLoach. I think it was Winter also. We had a heck of a time following Greg Plumb's directions in Waterfalls of Tennessee. The roads back then had some very questionable names like "Welfare Road" and "Negro Creek Road". By the time I made a return visit with Kenny those were replaced with better road signs. It was a funny day because of our struggling to find the place and how we'd fuss among ourselves.
We approached the turn to McFarland Adit today. We managed to get everything correct. The neon survey tape on the nearby tree marking the proper turn was gone. Yet we knew which one it was. The road was in rocky, but fair shape. One thing for certain, the road isn't going to have pot holes. It is too rocky. I had forgotten how narrow this road was. We wound gradually down to the access.
Above: a view of the road and the icicles from inside the jeep. You can see the tree hanging down. It has been cut out of the way.
Below: The entire bluff was like this. Icicles upon icicles. Quite pretty.
Icicles glazed the surrounding rock bluffs. Down below us a small feeder stream was half frozen. The area is so far down in a hole it gets very little sunlight. Today was a high of 18°
We parked the jeep and got out. The wind was still when we first arrived, but that did not last.
I took stock of the mossy cement structures that were a lot more visible in Winter. I wondered aloud what they were for? I read a good blog written about the area about the same time I first visited. It says they were structures to do with the "blower building" and "compressor building".
I am not sure, but I think Bruce Roberts may be the author of that blog? It was very interesting and well done. I spoke to Kenny about it and he explained that he was not sure what the "blower" building would have been. He did know that the compressor building was likely used for compressed air like a giant, industrial sized air compressor for tools out there in the boonies.
Kenny had questions I learned answers to. He wondered how they got the supplies there into the mountains? He wondered where they'd have kept them since this spot was pretty narrow.
I learned from the same blog entry that we need to walk that lower road and do some investigating. There is more down there in the way of interesting ruins. The lower McFarland Road was closer to the railroad tracks. This was where they brought the supplies in by train.
They had sidings to set cargo out of the way. They also had a hotel with a cistern for water.
The hotel is long gone, but the cistern remains. Blocks from the former conveyor belt are still embedded in the bank between the lower road and upper road! This was how they got the supplies there, staged it, stored it, and brought it up to the work area as it was needed!
Below: First looks at the access in Winter. Never been down here in Winter before.
If you enlarge the photo to full size by clicking on it you can see the little arch above the diverter spillway for the creek.
Above: Looking back down the narrow corridor between the two banks. A little sun light.
The wind began to blow and swirl down in this narrow spot. It was chilly!
Above: This is McFarland.. the door is to the portal access to the pipeline. I love the glaze of ice on the left. Despite how cold it has been and still was... the little stream was still flowing. Crusts of ice formed around the edges.
Above: I'm standing back to get a better view. The Go Pro does a great job of getting the whole scene.
Kenny did not tarry, but went back to see the cement plant and got in the jeep. He was over this cold weather. He is too skinny to have much insulation unlike Big Booty Judy here.
I heard something and turned to look. Another vehicle had pulled up. A family with a mom, dad, and two cute little girls got out. The little girls were full of vinegar. They were excited. I stopped to speak to them. I asked them if they'd been here before? They replied yes, many times. The dad told me the girls loved it and call this place "The Dwarf Mine" like Moria in the Hobbit movies.
Above: an illustration of the entrance to Moria
Above: the stream flows down toward the cement plant.
Below: Looking at the cement plant
Above: Stream with crusts of ice.
Above: A glimpse of the weak light of Winter Sun that provides only slight warmth.
The family of four loaded up and pulled over toward the cement plant ruins. They had to move in order for us to get out. Though the ground was frozen it was no place to mess around and get stuck.
We stayed on the road much as possible. We headed on out. Kenny was now wavering back and forth between wanting to turn right and go to the Apalachia Power House and then No! Let's go to Turtletown Adit and then Buck Bald. Finally the second option won out. I told him I was good with whatever he wanted to do. I was just glad to be out.
Below is a video of the McFarland portion of the day. It does a pretty good job of illustrating the road, the ice and the ruins.
On to the Turtletown Adit
What is an adit? It is a horizontal access passage to a mine or in this case a pipeline.
I learned from reading the plans for the dam, pipeline, and powerhouse that there are seven of these access ports. I did not know that! I can't help wondering where the others are? I also wonder if two of the accesses are located on either end being very near the powerhouse or dam? I studied the Cal Topo map and I've got a couple guesses where others may be. It seems unlikely for TVA to place portals for access without roads. I wonder if one is down Butler Ridge Road and the other is down Smith Creek Road. I think I see one on Smith Creek Road. I also think I see one less than half mile up from the power house.
Kenny quizzed me about the visit we made to the power house. Did we have to back track or did we come out some other way? I told him I was unsure, but I knew the McFarland Road had one way in and out. It dead ends at the power house. He did not want to backtrack. I did not want to play guessing games on a cold, short Winter day. We'd play it safe and head back to Turtletown Adit.
We turned onto the steep incline of the rough road that takes you there.
It is #23A and signed as such. There are gates, but they are both open. The road was not as rough as I recalled. Thankfully we did not have to get the chainsaw out, but I was reassured having it. There are lots of ruts and very narrow spots owing to erosion and trees being down. Someone has come along and cut the trees out, but only just.
Tight squeeze in places. We found two trees down across the upper section of road that leads directly to the top portion of the pipe.
We got our first glimpses of the creek and the pipeline. Turtletown Creek was flowing wonderfully today. Kenny mentioned to me that it looked to him like someone had been down there and done some work recently. He knew from his work that Santeetlah Dam and this section of the Apalachia pipeline were scheduled for maintenance and repairs. We did not have to go far to see that TVA made good on their promise! The underside of the pipe as it passed above the access road was gushing a mini waterfall the two previous visits. Today it was bone dry!
Below is a photo of what that spot used to look like. It was leaking, but pretty!
Below are two views of the pipeline viewed from the west side access road.
Above: The coupling near the cement was where the pipe was leaking badly. It is now 98% better. It was trickling just a little. Someone has a Trump campaign sticker on the pipeline. Some folks never give up. 😉
We checked out the pipe. Saw it had been repaired. I could hear water pretty strongly despite the leak being fixed. Upon checking around I found a spring dripping from the bluff to one side. The rock was making it seem louder. It was not like this on previous trips.
Above: dripping springs of water making a loud noise
Below: Two views of the icicles here.
Above: Small stream of water flowing away from the spring
Below: structures of concrete similar to what was up at McFarland. I think I read this was part of the compressor building. We found a spot down the road toward the tracks that must have been part of the conveyor they used to transport materials from train tracks to the work site.
Below: This road continues toward the railroad tracks.
Once we had done all the looking around we cared for at the first spot we headed down to the railroad tracks. It is a narrow, dirt track, but there are two good spots to turn around down toward the railroad. Look for a pull out on the left and a wide spot on the right.
Above: looking up the tracks in the direction of McFarland. It would be very cool to get down close to the Hiwassee River and walk along it. It was green as jade the day we visited. We couldn't get close.
Above: arriving at the railroad tracks at the end.
Below: Looking upstream on Turtletown Creek from the crossing
Above: The Hiwassee River confluence with Turtletown Creek and another side stream viewed from the train tracks.
Above: Frozen small side stream flows toward Turtletown Creek near the tracks.
The spot near the railroad bridge was pretty, but not as pretty as in Spring. We did not linger here. There wasn't that much to see and we had been here before.
We began working our way back. We stopped and checked parts of the stream for waterfalls and cascades. The streams here are pretty, but many of them lay down in the bottoms of these hollers and don't drop suddenly enough to form waterfalls.
I noticed a berm of earth that looked to be moved by man. It lay between the parking pull off and the west side of the pipeline. It looked like what was left of a ramp of earth. I also noticed a flat spot connected to it as if it had been a pull off road or siding to park equipment. I later learned of the conveyor system so I can't help wondering if this wasn't what used to be here? I am betting this was the conveyor to bring equipment from the tracks to the work site? Much more straight forward down here.
We stopped by the pipe again for me to take in the views. Kenny noticed a few chunks of cement and man made debris in the stream beneath the pipe. I am not sure what went on there. Just above this spot along Turtletown creek is one green pool of water and a low cascade that is rather pretty. I don't know where I got the notion there were more falls along this stream down here? This one was it. I guess I was telling myself what I wanted to be true.
Above: Looking upstream on Turtletown Creek beneath the pipe.
Below: Looking downstream in the same spot you can see the chunks of cement. There is a long, concrete structure in the middle of the stream that is a mystery to me.
Above: Pretty cascade on Turtletown Creek. Right below the road. It isn't much but worth a stop since we were down here.
We continued creeping out the road climbing out gradually. There is one really tight kiss your butt turn on this road. We spotted a side road dropping off the right and heading down toward Wolf Creek. It was gated, but worse it had been out of use so long trees have grown up in it. The saplings are a few inches in diameter. I later looked to see where this went. It does appear on maps and goes in a couple directions, but chiefly along Wolf Creek. They are just access roads. I did some looking on the topo map, and there is potential for some off trail waterfalls.
Below is a video of Turtletown Adit today.
We were very glad to get back out to the main road and see some pavement again.
We had grown tired of being jostled back and forth. We headed back toward Coker Creek.
We would make a stop off at Buck Bald. Before heading to the bald I had Kenny pull over for me to photograph a pretty, but run down log cabin. It has seen better days. I wanted to get a photo of it before it is gone.
Above: Log cabin by the side of SR 68 near Buck Bald. I'd love to know the history of it. It sure is in a pretty setting. This might need to be a painting some day.
Below: a view of the cabin zoomed in closer.
I am including a photo of the sign for Buck Bald below. It is damaged and is only visible heading south. No sign heading north!
We made the turn for Buck Bald. You can see it barely visible above in the photo on the far left top of the picture. The road takes you a couple miles back there past some homes until it winds its way to the summit. There is a point where the road Y's. Take the left turn to go to the summit. The road heading right is Old Hwy 68 and comes out down on River Road before the Shadwick Branch Rail crossing that goes overtop SR 68. I thought we had driven this, but I was mistaken. We will have to check that out next time.
We did not see another soul on this road today until we were leaving. We finally passed one vehicle. We had the summit to ourselves. It was cold, windy, and quiet.
The bald provides a 360° panoramic view. It is very pretty. The one picnic table of stone is broken, but has been replaced by a single wooden table in good shape. There are three or four wooden steps to lead up to the grassy bald.
Above: view from Buck Bald to the Northeast and what may be Beaverdam Bald. We could see a tower atop it.
Above: Looking toward the Unicoi Crest the mountains are still partly snowy.
Above: Kenny is over it and heading to the jeep.
Above: broken picnic table atop Buck Bald
Below: View to the south
Above: View to the hazy south west
We enjoyed the views up on the bald. Kenny pointed out a cell phone toward toward Coker Creek he set with the crane years back. I thought I got it in video, but you can't see it. We enjoyed the scenery, but tired of the cold we loaded up and headed for home.
Below is a video of the views on Buck Bald.
Notes to Self for Future Trips:
Look for other access points to the pipeline. There are five more.
Drive Old Hwy 68 from Buck Bald area down to River Road.
Check Watertank Branch for cascades
Drive River Road and get video of spring.
Get photos and video of the RR trestle over Shadwick Branch and SR 68.
**Edited to Add Dec. 16, 2023 -- I got a real thoughtful email from a reader named Tammy Lawson telling me that she & her hubby read my blog about visiting McFarland and used the directions to visit it themselves. I was real tickled to know this. She sent me some cool photos of a milkweed pod that was still hanging on this late in the season. She further told me it was ok to add them to the trip report. I'm doing that at the bottom of this blog entry. I am also creating a list of folks who let me know they make use of the directions and go to see it themselves! I know she and her spouse are the second couple to write me to let me know they went! I regret I didn't have the presence of mind to keep track of who the first ones were. So if you read this and it was y'all .... email me and I'll put you on that list! This blog entry has been a fun one for me and has been well read.
I heard back from the Tellico Ranger Dist. and the head guy says camping at trailheads such as what I saw at the trail for Turtletown Falls is NOT permitted.
They advised me to alert rangers to this in the future so they could handle it.
A couple years ago I became aware of the existence of the site of a "ghost town" in the Cherokee National Forest down in Polk County. Actually it is one of several that have vanished because of the changing times. McFarland, Probst, Austral, Hambright, Caney Creek are some of them. I am a fan of history so this intrigued me. I saw several videos of it and while there isn't much left of it, the spillway and cement mixing plant fascinated me. I like obscure and off the beaten track so I was determined to go visit and experience it for myself.
I can see the videos, trip narratives, or photos of others and that piques my interest. What really motivates me to go to see it for myself isn't simply to see the things they saw. That is only part of it. I want to go myself to feel the place and to see and find missed details. I don't always find that my visit turns up more than what others knew was there, but often I do. I want to see the world through my own eyes and the rest of my senses.
My daughter, grandchildren and myself attempted to find it last Summer.
Turns out we did make it to McFarland, but not the interesting part. I wanted to see the spillway and cement plant. We were below those and did not find them. We had a rattlesnake encounter that put a speedy end to the trip for the day. It was a foolish time to make such an attempt. I got to thinking about it this past Spring, and it tugged at my heart strings. I did not want another year to pass without me having visited. I decided if I wanted to see it I had best put it on the short list.
Above: the McFarland Road out closer to Farner. It is in good shape.
I did not feel comfortable wandering around back in that area solo. It took very little persuading to convince Kenny to accompany me. He likes this sort of exploring. Today we did miss the turn for it by a mile. We had to turn around and head back. I plugged in my GPS coordinates to assist us in picking the correct road this time. Once we made the turn onto the right road we were there in no time! There was the cement plant ruins. A short distance further we arrived at the mossy green spillway. It provides maintenance access to the Apalachia Aquaduct pipe.
We enjoyed the drive on the backroads today. It was a perfect Spring morning. We found traffic light and the sun was shining. I believed today would be a good day. I hoped we would be successful in finding the old town. It was a point of pride. I hoped that the area would be good for seeing some nice wildflowers. I was not disappointed. Just driving the McFarland Road we saw daisy fleabane in pastel pink and white with its little yellow centers. We saw carpets of dwarf crested iris on the banks around the road. The air was cool, comfortable and fresh.
I had spent considerable time the previous evening prepping a cookout and picnic Supper for us. It is a long drive down there so we would cram the day as full as we could to make it count!
Above: daisy fleabane blooms by the road
Tiny sweet white violets were on the banks today.
Above: We saw many maiden hair ferns. They are plentiful in this area.
Another shot of the sunshine on the McFarland Road
Above: large patch of dwarf iris
Above: a white form of dwarf crested iris with only a tiny bit of color
Below: more typically colored pale lavender dwarf crested iris.
I was doing my best to navigate, but somehow still managed to miss the turn . I engaged the GPS to help guide us to select the correct side road. I knew when we got to Butler Cemetery sign we had gone too far. Thankfully the GPS coordinates were accurate thus we picked the right road today. We did not drive far until the ruins of the former cement mixing plant came into view. A short distance later we spotted the spillway. It was even more impressive in person.
It is cool and green and mossy here at this spot. I stood examining the clear stream of water and the spillway itself. It is massive and moss covers much of it as well as the surrounding banks. I looked at the manmade waterfall portion which was very pretty. Up top there is a natural cascade. I also noticed something up there which I never paid attention to or was not shown on other videos. Up above the spillway is an arch. It is manmade and most likely had to do with keeping some type of pipe in place back in the day. Today it was just pretty.
Above: stream flowing away from the spillway
Above: Access door for the pipeline... McFarland still visible
Above: mossy green spillway
Above: archway and small cascade flowing under it.
Below is a video of the McFarland Spillway and cement plant
We enjoyed walking around the spillway and I walked up and down both sides of the narrow corridor enjoying the sight of the green moss and leaves. So many tiny ferns and flowers graced the slopes. I saw some very pretty jack in the pulpits. I also saw my first Vaseys trilliums of the season.
Above: vaseys trillium
nice big jack in the pulpit
I pulled up the hood here.. this is a bishop!
Solomon's Seal in bloom
tightly clasped jack in the pulpit
Green leaves on the banks
Below: Maiden hair fern
This retaining wall was pretty with green plants growing on it.
Above: cement plant ruins
Looking up through the former cement plant.. the holes the concrete flowed down through into waiting trucks.
Another vantage point of the cement plant. Some fool has painted a swastika on it. Ignorant ass people.
Nice clear stream from the spillway flowing on down the mountain.
Above and below: I got a chance to photograph a native magnolia up close. It was down low near the road.
The drive out from McFarland I was on the other side now and saw new things. A large cluster of fire pinks.
Purple phacelia still in bloom and lots of it.
Zoomed in on fire pinks
We saw loads of jack in the pulpit along the road.
Solomon's Plume above:
Below: an unexpected delight ... wild bleeding heart
Above and below: Catesby's trilliums were abundant and so pretty!
We also saw two nice waterfalls below the McFarland Road. If we go back we'll have to take 100 feet of rope and try to rappel down to see them up close. The community of McFarland was founded in 1890 when they put in the post office.
It existed to support the building and use of the Old Line Railroad between Knoxville and Atlanta.
It also existed to support the construction of the Apalachia Pipeline. So it was a support to transport and industry and energy production. Once those things were accomplished and times changed the community fell into decline.
The actually buildings and town were down on the lower road where Crystal and my grandkids and myself were last Summer. There is little or nothing there. The road is washed out very badly. It is not a long walk down there so if a person wanted to see it they would be best off just going on foot. The railroad tracks and Hiwassee River are there. Some concrete structures are there by the tracks. Not sure what that was for, but guessing it had to do with freight of some kind. Not much to see here. All the "good stuff" is up on the top road. It was a good Spring wildflower trip for sure. Any repeat trips we will come prepared to check out the undocumented waterfalls there.
Here is a link to the Heritage of the Upper Hiwassee site that has a few paragraphs about the old towns of this area. It is interesting and useful if you want to visit them. McFarland is the second paragraph down. The info here has waypoints to the town. It is to the actual site of the town. If you are interested in finding the spillway and cement plant here are the coordinates. 35.169632,-84.393993
Turtletown Adit
A few years back I was planning a visit to the Cherokee National Forest with Kenny. Sometimes to pick a place to visit I just get the National Geographic map out and study it. While I am a huge proponent of Tennessee Landforms it is not all inclusive. I am forever touting the use of Cal Topo maps because it has so much detail. Not even Cal Topo gets it all. Somethings get put on regular maps or in road atlases that are otherwise left out. I don't know who decides what gets included and what is left off, but it is wise to use a variety of source material in finding what is in a given area. Sitting gazing at the map something caught my attention that I had overlooked before. "Turtletown Adit" was indicated on the Nat Geo map of the Cherokee National Forest southern section. I could see it was a side road below Turtletown Falls. I was curious what that would be like so we visited. If you click the link here you can check out that trip report. Some excellent photos on this one that really show it off better than this trip. It was May 28, 2016 so things looked different, and were even prettier. Going later in the season you get to see tons of Indian Pinks and maiden hair ferns along with the delicate purple blooms of rhodo minus.
Above: Rhododendron minus at Turtletown adit
Below: one of my favorite pictures of lime green maiden hair ferns and the red hot blooms of Indian Pinks!
So what is an adit? It is a horizontal passage leading into usually a mine.. that provides access or drainage. In this case it is a passage leading to the pipeline for access. It is a little less than a mile below lower Turtletown Falls. On the drive in to McFarland you passed a right turn signed #23A. It goes steeply uphill past a yellow gate. This is the turn for Turtletown Adit. If you have a high clearance, four wheel drive vehicle and possibly a chainsaw... it is worth a visit. We went back today just to see it in a different season. We were very glad we did because we missed some cool stuff. Somehow we thought the road terminated just past the pipeline. It doesn't! It goes further and provides access to the railroad tracks, the trestle over Turtletown Creek and the Hiwassee River. It is an even prettier spot than we'd known! Today we found it. I don't know why we didn't explore further that day. I think looking at the trip report it was because we had several other spots we wanted to explore. That was the day Paul Gamble sent us on the infamous Shadwick Branch Snipe Hunt. I have NOT forgotten mind you. 😂😆
Today we found the road just barely passable because of many downed trees. They had been cut out of the way, but only just. Good thing we were in my jeep. It was tight in places. The road is steep and has a couple bad drop offs on the right. We got to the split down toward the bottom and pulled up close to check out the pipeline. It has a leak that has gotten worse. There is now a small pond beneath the pipe. It wasn't quite as pretty down here today as it was in late May, but it was slightly less snaky. We also took time today to explore further and found the train trestle and tracks. The access to the river and confluence of Turtletown Creek with the Hiwassee River. A truck was down there same time as us. It was a set of grandparents with their two grandsons. They were nice people just out doing what we were... exploring.
Above: Pale pink catesbys trillium we found
Below: I found a pile of pretty, soft, spotted feathers by the trillium. Some poor bird met a bad end here. I wished later that I had kept a few of the feathers. I believe if the chance comes along again I will use them to incorporate into something beautiful to commemorate the life of the bird. It never occurred to met until afterwards and then the chance had passed. They look like guinea feathers.
Perfoliate bellwort was also seen along the road. Quite a lot of it!
above: golden alexanders were in the woods today
Above: fire pinks up on a rocky shelf
solomons seal was in bloom also!
Below is a video of the pipeline and its leak! It is like a manmade falls. The video is only around 30 seconds long.
Below is a series of three photos that show what the upper access road is like. It brings you to the pipe and the access door.
Below is a photo with some vignetting that I liked.. it shows the pipe and how it is supported to cross Turtletown Creek. Though it is named 'creek' it is a significant body of water and is more like a river.
Below: today the view under the pipe was not as pretty as the first visit.
Above: opposite side of the pipe where it is leaking.
Above: a butterfly, some moths and a large bumblebee.
We pulled on down the road and parked at a wide spot out of the way. We left room for the folks in the truck to be able to get out if they needed to before we were ready to go. We walked over to the railroad tracks and checked out the trestle. We could hear the folks down below us and kids laughing. We climbed down the bank and checked out the creek and the view of the confluence of it with the Hiwassee. It is a nice area and the little boys were having a great time. Their grandfather and grandmother were introducing them to the joys of being a kid in the country. Healthier than screen time for sure! Below are several photos that show what that spot is like.
Above: beneath the trestle and looking up Turtletown Creek
Confluence of Turtletown Creek with the Hiwassee River.
Above: the trestle is a really pretty one in my opinion, but I am a cross tie walker from childhood so consider the source.
a view of the trestle from up top
railroad tracks going north
railroad tracks going south
standing beneath the trestle looking up at the supports.
We did not tarry long here. We wanted to hike to Turtletown Falls so we pushed onward. Today was turning out to be a good day indeed!
The last time we hiked to Turtletown Falls we visited the upper falls, lower falls and Kenny went into one of his usual navigational swivet. He was just sure going back the other way .. to form a loop.. would be better and easier and faster. I started off by complying, but came to my senses. I balked and would not continue. He had never done the hike this way, but I had. The loop I completed involved hiking the entire ridgeline out to the road and having to double back to the parking lot! It was very long and steep with nothing to look at. Essentially doubling the difficulty level and distance without adding anything interesting or pretty to the adventure. I was not doing that again.
I turned around and started back the way we had come and told him I'd see him at the vehicle and to give me the keys. He relented and followed me. We had a bet. He bet there WAS a shorter loop. I bet there was NOT. It took until today.. five years later... to get back here to settle it, but today was the day. We got to the split in the trail and he then decided he didnt' want to bother finding out. I told him he would either concede that he was wrong or we would hike it today and find out? He said we'd go that way on the return trip. I said no, that we were too stupid and might not find it going that direction. It was get it over with first ... or admit defeat!? He saw my point.
We started up the right hand trail at the split. It was very gradual uphill and not difficult. It is mucky and wet. There are downed trees that are uncut.
It is between two ridges in a side holler. It is boring and ugly with nothing to see. We arrived at the upper ridge trail and turned left to head toward Lower Falls. It was a wide trail, the tread was better , but it was boring and uphill. It makes the trip longer and is dull. We did arrive at lower Falls finally. It was settled. The trail does make a shorter loop so he was correct. I guess the time Bill and Craig and I hiked it we did not know about the shorter loop option. It was there obviously, but we just missed it somehow. I won't do either loop again. It is out and back for me.
Above: Lower Turtletown Falls
Below: Best vantage I could get of the Lower Falls. A large tree has fallen and obstructed the view very badly. It is no longer simple to get in position to get the optimal shot of the pretty shape of Lower Turtletown Falls. The stream was flowing very fast today making it unwise to wade out into the water. Closer to shore the tree top is impossible to avoid. The stream is also filled with muddy sludge near the edge of the water. It is going to be this way for a long time to come. Unless the forestry service cuts the tree loose so the next few floods move it out of the way........... I am not likely to bother going down to this falls again.
Below: the next three photos show the erosion damage done to the trail. It was nearly lost in places. During high water you would find it necessary to go deeper into the woods on the right and hike off trail to get around it safely.
Below: Turtletown Creek is deep and milky today
above: a nice straight, smooth part of the trail
Above and below: a couple shots of pink lady slipper. I saw some today on this hike, but not as many as usual. I think it is a little early for them.
Above and below: the first cascade you see along Turtletown Creek is right by the parking area. We arrived to find the parking area very full. Some of the people there with the vehicles were camped at the trailhead. I am not sure if that is legal or not, but they did it just the same.
Below is a video of Lower Turtletown Falls
Once we got to Lower falls we sat down and ate lunch and got something to drink. We rested and enjoyed the sound of the water and the pretty scenery. We then began our hike back to try to close this loop to be able to say we had done it successfully. Kenny groused most of the way back that the other way was better to which I invited him to go back that way and I'd be waiting for him at the jeep. While this route might be tougher in his eyes at least it is shorter and there is pretty scenery the entire way. I need something to make the walk worth the trouble. It helps ease the pain of the effort.
We wound through the forest until we came to the place where the trail is along the stream and flattens out. A short time later we arrived at a set of steps that took us along a hill to the Upper Turtletown Falls. Once there we began seeing a few more pink lady slippers! The upper falls was gorgeous. It was perfection. Lots of water coming over. The spray was cool and refreshing. The slant of the evening sun coming down over the falls created a beautiful rainbow on the right side! It was rewarding to see.
Below is a video of the upper falls that shows the rainbow.
Above: Upper Turtletown Falls and the rainbow
Below: zoomed in on the right side of the falls with the rainbow in clearer focus.
We relished the visit to this beautiful spot. We were growing tired. We trudge onward at last to make the climb up out of this hole to the trail. We went up steps and switchbacks. We made the gradual climb out on the trail and finally arrived back at the split. We encountered a family with mom, dad, and three kids just past the split. They were not dressed like they were accustomed to hiking. They were already discouraged and wondering when they'd get to the falls. We told them they were about 1/4 mile from the upper falls which was more than worth it. We then told them the lower falls was another mile beyond the upper falls. They continued, but my bet is that they went to the upper falls, turned around and left after that. I doubt they tried to tackle the lower falls.
We continued on and soon were at the gate and parking area. Most folks were gone. Far fewer vehicles. I have written to the forestry service out of curiosity to learn if camping at the trailhead is okay or not? I just wonder and it never crossed my mind before this. I'll edit the report to include any answers I get. Back at the jeep I felt icky. I got some cold water to drink and ate some raspberries to quench a deep thirst. I was tired. Kenny was tired.
My original plan was to drive down to Fields of the Wood and have a picnic and cook out. I had steaks in marinade, garlic smashed potatoes, corn on the cob for grilling. It was getting late. It was already 5 pm. We were concerned about the additional drive, our fatigue level, and whether they'd have the gates open or not? Kenny persuaded me to go to Madisonville for dinner and save the other meal for tomorrow. We had done it again. Tried to cram too much into the day.
I was disgusted with myself and felt gross and unfit to go in anywhere to eat. We hate Wendy's in Madisonville, but decided to give it a try because it was fast. Oh how wrong we were. Dining room was closed. Long, long line at the drive through. Moving along at a snails pace. We became trapped and unable to get out for awhile. Finally after a 20 minute wait and only two cars served... we were able to make a break for it. Kenny said I'm going to Berts for dinner. You are fine and we are going in to sit down! I changed clothes and brushed my hair. Times like this are why I keep handi wipes and mini deodorant in my purse.
Above: a photo of Bert's Hometown Grill
We went in Bert's and were seated almost immediately. We were well taken care of by their professional staff. We had tempura shrimp for dinner and it was very satisfying for two hungry, weary persons. Way better than Wendy's. They need to get a regional manager to fix whatever is wrong there or pull the franchise and close it down.
All in all a great day, but one of our over ambitious ones.
The only thing we did not accomplish today that we wanted to do was have a cookout and picnic at Fields of the Wood. It isn't going anywhere. That will be something to look forward to. Below is a photo showing the picnic table and view from the top of the Ten Commandments Mountain. It will be great!
**Directions to Turtletown Falls** I have provided the waypoint for the falls in this report. It has maps and such. Complete directions to the falls are in Gregory Plumb's Waterfalls of Tennessee guidebook. I will merely remind the reader that you passed the trailhead for Turtletown Falls along Farner Road on the right on the way to McFarland Road. It is signed with a large brown forest service sign and easy to spot. Turn on that road and follow it down the mountain to the parking area. The trail to the falls starts behind the gate in the parking lot adjacent to the stream. The simplest way to get to both falls is to stay on the path that parallels the stream down and back the same way.
Below: Fluffy, silky native milkweed pod photos taken by Tammy Lawson and her spouse who also went to McFarland.
Above and below Native milkweed pods opening to shed their seeds with fluff like angel wings!
Above: We saw lots of icicles today
